Pact gives U.S. military greater access to bases in the Philippines

Published: April 29, 2014 3:00AM

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- President Barack Obama said a 10-year agreement signed Monday to give the U.S military greater access to Philippine bases will help promote peace and stability in the region and that he hopes China's dominant power will allow its neighbors to prosper on their own terms.

Signed as Obama arrived in Manila, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement will give American forces temporary access to selected military camps and allow them to preposition fighter jets and ships. Although the deal is being perceived as a U.S. effort to counter Chinese aggression in the region, Obama said his message to Beijing is that America wants to partner with China in upholding international law.

"Our goal is not to counter China. Our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure international rules and norms are respected and that includes in the area of international disputes," Obama said at a news conference with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at the Malacanang Palace.

Obama's overnight visit to the Philippines is the last stop on a weeklong Asia tour that also included Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. At each stop along his tour, Obama reaffirmed the U.S. treaty commitments to defend its Asian allies, including in their territorial disputes with China. He said in Manila that the U.S. takes no specific position on those disputes, but believes China should resolve disputes with its neighbors the same way the U.S. does -- through dialogue.

"We don't go around sending ships and threatening folks," Obama said.

With its anemic military, the Philippines has struggled to bolster its territorial defense amid China's increasingly assertive behavior in the oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, which Obama flew over on his way here, according to the Air Force One cockpit. Chinese paramilitary ships took effective control of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground off the northwestern Philippines, in 2012. Last year, Chinese coast guard ships surrounded another contested offshore South China Sea territory, the Second Thomas Shoal.